A: Well, it was the first day of practice so well, I [did so] while properly confirming my senses/feeling [for the rink/competition]. Well, I don’t think the skating itself has exactly come but I am confirming these one at a time. I skated today’s practice while thinking anew about the best way to get a feel for the ice.
Q: Was it a good feeling to skate to Ballade No. 1?
A: Well, I can only say I will leave that to the impressions of people watching in the audience, but well, I was really nervous today. But I felt again…well, apart from Pyeongchang, it was my first time running through Ballade No. 1 in front of everyone so while being very nervous, I felt like I was once more preparing myself to skate to this program.
Q: What was your reason for changing the programs?
A: Um, I think just with this question, the interview will probably be over. Firstly, at the Grand Prix Final and Japanese Nationals, I think it’s very fun to raise the difficulty [of my layouts], and the happiness at the moment of accomplishing them is immeasurable, but, well… I think the skating I’m aspiring to is not just doing difficult things.
I did Origin, did Otonal, but perhaps it’s not something that fits my rhythm/pace. Firstly, when it comes to technical things, the more I put in difficult elements, the more I neglect the portions of my own skating, and something I hate is separating my mind from the music because I must do so to set up for jumps. A big [factor/reason for the change] was not being able to tolerate that. And also, in terms of music, I selected those pieces Origin and Otonal after the Olympics had finished, when I myself was in a very ambivalent/floating mood, feeling like I was constantly that young boy who was always chasing after Johnny Weir and Plushenko.
Therefore, I think it’s indeed true that the Otonal at Japanese Nationals was good and Skate Canada’s Origin was good but, after all, I was thinking that I could not perfect them as my own performance. Because the ideal was that hard to reach. That ‘ideal’ was probably not me, but I think that of Plushenko-san and Johnny-san’s shadows*. Therefore, when I thought of it, this was not my skating and thought this once more when performing Seimei during Medallist on Ice. When I skated Seimei…well, it’s not really about a cover and original song but I really felt a difference similar to that within myself. Truthfully, Seimei and Ballade No. 1 are kids who, as legend-like records** to be passed down, so if I had been able to, I wanted to let them sleep. But, even so, during Medallist on Ice, when I borrowed their power – and maybe it was because of my mentality at the time – I thought I was able to be myself to a staggering degree. So, yes, for a little while longer, I thought it was okay to borrow the power of these kids, yes.
*literally he says their ‘backs’ were the ideal, essentially the ‘backs’ who he was chasing after or their idealised image in his head, but I’ve taken the liberty to use a more common English expression.
**he uses しまっている which is a suffix usually used to denote something that’s not ideal/good – here it’s attached to 記録を持ってしまっている – holding the records. Our interpretation is that he’s saying it’s almost a bad thing that they have those records because it gives these programs a particular weight because of their ‘legendary’ reputation that he doesn’t want to risk/harm by performing them again.
Q: What’s the degree of completion for your 4A, will you fight with it at the World Championships?
A: U~m… well, if I can’t jump it then I cannot put it in, though I’ll do it if I can. I think I was indeed able to practice it during this month-long period. I haven’t landed it, but somehow or another, I think its condition/shape has gotten better.
A beautiful and powerful melody sounded somewhere around Tokyo. Chopin Ballade No. 1. The performer is Ms. Kanon Matsuda. Moving to Moscow at the age of 6, she is the most noted young pianist who has studied at the Moscow Conservatory since 2014 as the first Japanese to receive the Russian government special scholarship.
Off to the side, behind Ms. Matsuda, a young man leans, with closed eyes, sometimes following the rhythm of the music with his body. The man is Yuzuru Hanyu, a figure skater who performs to this song for his short program in the 2017-2018 season.
It was a breathtaking performance for all who witnessed it. After the performance, when Ms. Matsuda got up and bowed to Hanyu, he asked the cameraman to stop filming.
Hanyu wiped the sweat off his neck with a handkerchief, took a sip of his drink and took a breath. Then he returned to Ms. Matsuda. Art and sports: the two young talents began to discuss “expression”.
H: Yuzuru Hanyu, M: Kanon Matsuda
２人にとって、ショパン『バラード第１番』とは？ For these two, what is Chopin's Ballade No. 1?
羽生:素晴らしい演奏でした。こういうピアノで滑ってみたいなって思えるような。
H:It was a wonderful performance. I'd like to skate to such piano music.
松田:ありがとうございます。
M:Thank you very much!
羽生:このショパンの『バラード第１番』にはどんな思い入れがありますか？
H: What does Ballade No. 1 mean to you?
Kanon Matsuda
松田: 私の出身地である香川県で開催されたリサイタルで演奏しました。その後にデビューＣＤ（『松田華音デビュー・リサイタル』）に収録されることが決まったので、思い出の曲です。
M: I played this song at a recital in Kagawa Prefecture, where I'm from. After that, it was decided that it would be included in my debut CD (Matsuda Kanon Debut Recital). So, it is a good memory for me.
羽生:実はそのＣＤを、昨日ずーっと聴かせていただいていたんです。
H: Actually, I was listening to that CD all day yesterday.
松田:そうなんですか！ ありがとうございます。
M: Really? I'm so happy to hear that!
羽生:松田さんは楽曲を物語のように解釈しているとお聞きしましたが、この曲にはどんな物語がありますか？
H: I heard that you interpret songs like stories. What kind of story do you think this song has?
松田: 毎回違った物語を考えるようにしているんですけれど、今回はゴールズワージーの小説『フォーサイト家物語』に出てくるソームズとイレン（アイリーン）の関係、ソームズがイレンを想う気持ちを音楽にしてみようかなって考えてみたんです。
M: I try to think of different stories each time. But this time, I was trying to think about the relationship between Soames and Irene in the Forsyte Saga by Galsworthy, and try to include Soames's feelings for Irene in the music.
羽生:すごいなあ、本をよく読まれるんですね。
H: Wow! That is really impressive! Do you read a lot?
Yuzuru Hanyu x Kanon Matsuda
松田:はい、好きなんです。
M: I do. I love reading.
羽生:僕にとってこの『バラード第１番』は、もちろん曲についても思い入れは強くあるんですけれど、なんて言うんだろうな、割と自分でいられる。自分自身が曲と同化できるように思います。
H: For me, about this Ballade No. 1 - of course, I have strong feelings. How can I explain: I can be myself. I feel like I can assimilate myself into this song.
松田: なるほど。
M: I see.
羽生:自分の中で「これを伝えたい」「あれを伝えたい」って演技する前から持っているわけじゃなくて、やってる最中に何かが出来上がっている。
H: I don't own it before I perform it, like "I want to express this" or "I want to express that". Within myself, something is being completed while I'm actually performing it.
松田:素晴らしい。
M: That's amazing!
羽生:松田さんの演奏している姿を見て思ったのは、力の入れ方とか息の抜き方とか呼吸とかをすごい大事にしているなあって。スケートを滑っている感覚と似ているのかなって思いました。ですから演奏を聴いて、こういうものを作らなくちゃいけないんだなあと、学ばせていただきました。
H: When I watched you perform, I thought that you place importance on the way you exert force, breathing out and breathing in. Maybe that is similar to the feeling of skating. So, listening to your performance, I’ve learned that I have to do something like that, too.
Yuzuru Hanyu
松田:すごく嬉しいです。ありがとうございます。私はモスクワの自宅のテレビでソチオリンピックをずっと見ていました。フィギュアスケートは他のスポーツと違って、音楽を聴いて感じたものをさらに体で表現する芸術的な競技ですよね。羽生選手のス
ケートからは情熱というか、エネルギーがすごく伝わってきます。
M: I'm so happy to hear that. Thank you very much. I watched the Sochi Olympics on TV at home in Moscow. Unlike other sports, figure skating is an artistic competition that further expresses what you feel listening to music. From your skating, I feel passion and a lot of energy is transmitted.
演奏・演技を通して観客に伝えたいことWhat do you wish to convey to the audience through your performances?
羽生:先ほど「毎回違った物語を考える」とおっしゃいましたが、それは同じ曲でも演奏のたびに違うということ？
H: As you mentioned earlier, "to think of a different story each time". But does it mean that you do so each time you perform, even for the same song?
松田:ええ。同じことを考えようと思っても、なかなかできないですから。雨が降っていたら「あ、雨がいいな」ってちょっと悲しい気持ちで弾いてみたり、または希望を感じる気持ちで弾いてみたり。
M: Yes. Even if I try to think the same as before, I can't do it easily. If it's raining: "Oh, it's rainy" and I try to play with a slightly sad feeling, or try to play with the feeling of hope.
羽生:ステージに入る前から物語を決めているんですか？
H: Do you decide on the story before going onstage?
松田:はい。全体は決めています。ただ、よりキャラクターをはっきり出したい場所だけは、ステージに上がる直前まで頭の中でグルグルグルグルと考えていることもありますね。
M: Yes. I decide it vaguely. However, if there's a character I clearly want to convey, I go over and over it in my head until just before I go onstage.
羽生:でもピアノのクラシックって結構キャラが決まってないことが多いじゃないですか。その日の天気とか会場の雰囲気とか（の影響が）すごくありますよね。
H: But there are many cases where classical piano music doesn't have a concrete character. There is a lot of influence from the outside weather or the atmosphere in the venue, isn't there?
松田 うんうん、そうなんです。
M: Yes. Exactly.
羽生:そういう人間性みたいなもの、今まで経験してきたこととか、今の自分の思いの背景とか、そういうものを松田さんは表現されているんだなあって思いました。
H: I thought that you are expressing things such as human nature, things that you've experienced so far and the background of your current thoughts .
松田:フィギュアスケートはどうなんですか？
M: How is it in figure skating?
羽生:音を出している感覚に近いのかなって思います。もちろん曲はできているから、無から自分で作り出すものじゃないですけど、でも僕は「この人、曲に合わせて滑ってるのとは違うんだ」ということを感じてもらいたいなと思っているんです。
H: I think it's close to the sensation of producing sounds. Of course, the song exists already, it is not something you create yourself, but I hope people will feel: "This person is not just skating along with the song".
Yuzuru Hanyu
松田:ええ、ええ。自分自身で意味を、一歩一歩に意味を入れるっていう感じですか？
M: I see. I see. You mean putting your own meaning into the song?
Something like putting meaning into every step?
羽生:入れるというより、なんか「入ってる」感じ。聴いている人も見ている人も、そして滑っている自分も、結局みんな違う過去、違う経験があると思うんです。例えば悲しい曲でも、自分自身の近くに悲しいことがあったらすごい悲しくなるし、直前に楽しいことがあってウキウキした状態だったら感じ方が違うと思うし、悲しみの後にやってくる希望のようなものが見えたりすることもあるかもしれないし。僕はそういうのをすごく大事にしたいなって思っていて。だから自分の伝えたいことはたくさんあるけれど、見ている方それぞれに「何か」が伝わっていればいいなあ、って思っています。
H: Instead of "putting", it's more like "entering". Everyone who's listening and watching, and even me who’s skating, all have different pasts, different experiences. For example, a sad song -if you experienced something sad recently, will make you feel extremely sad,but if you've just had fun and are feeling excited, the way you feel it will be different. You may be able to see something like hope comes after sorrow. I really want to pay attention to those kind of things. There are many things I want to convey, but I want to convey a different "something" to every person watching.
松田 その感覚、素晴らしいと思います。
M: I think that sense you have is wonderful.
Yuzuru HanyuYuzuru Hanyu x Kanon Matsuda
楽曲に対して情熱を注げるか、深みを追求できるか
Do you embrace passion in music or pursue depth?松田:羽生選手は美しさや表現力について、どのようにお考えですか？
M: What do you think about beauty and the ability to express it?
羽生:フィギュアスケートは技術的なことがすごく目立つ競技です。レベルの高いプログラムで、ジャンプなどをすべてきれいに決められれば、それが究極。
H: Figure skating is explicitly technical. The ultimate goal is to land all your jump and other elements cleanly in a high-level program.
その中で、「これを伝えよう」「あれを伝えよう」とやりすぎると、ぐちゃぐちゃになっちゃってミスも増えて、最終的に伝わらないことが多いかなと思います。自分の気持ちだってぐちゃぐちゃになっちゃうし。
Within that framework, if you think too much about "Let's tell this" or "Let's tell that", you will mess up, make more mistakes and, in my opinion, end up not conveying what you want. And it messes up my feelings, too.
松田さんは思いどおりにいかない時ってどうしますか？
How about you? What do you do when the situation doesn’t line up with your expectations?
Yuzuru Hanyu
松田:コンサートや演奏会で弾いていて、「ここ思いどおりにいかなかったな」ということは必ずあります。でも私はやっぱり、音。出す音のことを考えないといけないので、技術より曲のイメージや、伝えたいメッセージを考えています。
M: There's no doubt that "Things did not go as I expected" moments happen during concerts and recitals. But, for me, the sound is the ultimate. I have to consider the quality of the sound, so I think more about the images of the songs and the messages I would like to give rather than the technical aspects.
羽生:例えば、演奏途中で音が１個飛んだりしても、その場で完全に忘れ去ってるんですか？
H: For example, even if one note eludes you while you are playing, do you completely forget about it after that moment?
松田:忘れ去ってますね（笑）。シャットアウトしないとまた同じことを繰り返す可能性があったり、音楽が止まってしまったり……。
M: Yes, it completely disappears after that moment! [laughs]
If you don't shut out that mistake, you could make the same mistake again, and then the music itself would stop.
イメージを、ストーリーを続けていかないと曲が続いていかないので、ミスのことは忘れます。実際、演奏した後「今日間違ってたよね」って言われても「そうだったっけ？」って思うことがあります。
You need to keep playing the images and stories, otherwise, the song doesn't continue. So, I sweep away the mistakes.
And, in fact, if someone points it out - "You made mistakes today, didn't you?", there are times I wonder, "Did I?"
羽生:僕もジャンプとかでミスったことを忘れてる時が結構あります。
H: Yeah, there are also times when I forget mistakes in my jumps, etc.
Kanon Matsuda x Yuzuru Hanyu
松田:羽生選手は、曲選びはどうなさってるんですか？
M: How do you choose the songs for your programs?
羽生:フリーに関しては、最近５〜６年は自分で選曲しています。その基準は自分がそのプログラムに対してどれだけ興味を持っているか。その曲だけで１年２年ぐらい滑らなきゃいけなくて、毎日滑っているからやっぱり聞き飽きてきたりもしちゃう。情熱を注げるか注げないかってすごく大きいんです。
H: For my free skate, I've chosen the songs myself for the past 5-6 years.The standard I follow is how much interest I have in the program. I'll be skating that program everyday for a year or two, so there will definitely be times that I'll get tired of listening to the song. It is a huge deal whether I can be passionate about the song or not.
だから“深み”がないと追求しきれない。でもフィギュアスケートの場合、曲が難しすぎると、見ている方々は「ああ難しいな」で終わっちゃう。
So, you can't pursue a song without "depth". But, in the case of figure skating, if the song is too difficult, people watching will end up thinking, "Oh, it’s difficult."
松田:うんうんうん。そうですね。
M: I understand what you're saying.
羽生:だからそれはすごく注意します。どういう曲がみなさんに伝わりやすいのか、自分の伝えようと思えるものが伝わるか。
H: That's why I pay a lot of attention to what kind of songs are easy to convey to people and easy for me to use to express what I want to express.
松田:すごいです。でも難しい。私の場合リサイタルだと１時間半弾いてなければならないので、体力が持つかどうかも計算して。ゆっくりな曲ばっかりだと体力的には楽ですが、聴いている人はつまらないじゃないですか。
M: Amazing! But that is a difficult thing. In my case, I have to play for an hour and a half for a recital, so I also have to calculate whether I'll have the physical strength or not. Physically, it's easier for me to only play slow music, but the people listening will get bored of that, right?
支えがあるから、夢に向かってがんばれる
Because of the support, we can try our best to achieve our dreams.羽生:松田さんは６歳からモスクワでピアノを学んでいて、今はロシア政府の特別奨学生としてモスクワ音楽院に在籍しているんですよね。
H: You have studied piano in Moscow since you were 6 years old and now you're enrolled in the Moscow Conservatory as a special scholar of the Russian government, right?
ロシアの芸術の分野は、若い才能を育てる文化みたいなものがあるんですか。
Does the Russian art sector cultivate young talent?
松田:はい。ロシアは芸術を支える仕組みがしっかりしていると感じます。
M: Yes. And I think Russia has a solid support mechanism for the arts.
私が卒業したグネーシン音楽学校は、基本的には全員、学費が全額免除でした。ただし、常に厳しい試験があって、基準にふさわしくない人は翌年から学費がかかったり、合格点をとれないと退学処分になったりします。
Basically, at the music school from which I graduated, all students are exempt from tuition.
However, there are strict exams. Those who don't meet the standards will be charged tuition the following year or will be expelled unless they can pass.
厳しいですが、そういうシステムは素晴らしいと思います。現在のモスクワ音楽院は、ロシア人のトップ40人は学費が全額免除です。私は外国人枠でなく現地ロシア人と同じ試験を受けて政府特別奨学生に選んでいただきました。
It's tough, but I think the system's great. Currently, at the Moscow Conservatory, the top 40 Russian students are exempt from tuition fees.
I took the same exams as the local Russians, unlike foreigners, and was selected to be a special government scholar.
羽生:すごいですね。僕もJSCトップアスリートとして、スポーツくじ（toto・BIG)の収益による助成により支えられています。
H: That's so impressive! I'm also supported by subsidies sponsored by the revenue of a sports lottery (toto BIG) as a JSC top athlete.
スケートはすごくお金のかかるスポーツなので、このような助成の仕組み、そしてたくさんのファンの応援に力をもらいながら夢に向かってがんばっています。
Skating is a very costly sport, so with this subsidy mechanism and the power gained through the support of my fans, I'm striving towards my dreams.
松田:私も皆さんに支えて頂いていることに感謝しながら、これからもがんばっていこうと思います。
M: I'm grateful to everyone for supporting me. I think I will try my best in the future as well.
一つひとつの動き、音。全てに意味をこめる
Each movement, a sound. Adding meaning to everything羽生:松田さんは6歳からずっとモスクワで暮らしてるんですよね。現地でのスケート人気はどうですか？
H: You've been living in Moscow since you were 6 years old, haven't you? How is the popularity of skating there?
松田:はい、大人気です。モスクワ市内にはスケートリンクがたくさんあって、赤の広場も冬にはリンクができます。
M: I have. Figure skating is very popular.
There are many skating rinks in Moscow. There’s a rink at Red Square in the winter as well.
ですから選手を応援するのはもちろん、大勢の市民が日常的にスケートを楽しむ環境にあります。
So it's an environment where many citizens enjoy skating on a daily basis, as well as supporting skaters.
私も時々「滑ろうよ」と誘われるんですが、ケガをすると演奏に影響が出るのでやったことはないんですけど。
I've also been asked, "Let's go skate", but, if I get injured, my performance will be affected, so I've never gone skating unfortunately.
羽生:僕はロシアの振付師の方にも教わったことがあるんです。その時に教わったのは、メリハリだったり力強さだったり、呼吸の使い方、体の動かし方とかなんです。
H: I've been taught by Russian choreographers in the past. What I was taught was sharpness and power, as well as how to use breathing, how to move my body, things like that.
そして今日、松田さんの演奏にもそれがすごく出ていて、共感するところがありました。松田さんにとって、ロシアで培ってきて「これが一番ためになった」というものは何ですか？
And today, I got the same sense from your performance. I felt empathy.
What was the most beneficial thing you’ve cultivated in Russia?
松田:グネーシン音楽学校のエレーナ・イワノーワ先生が、12年間学んでいた私にずーっと言ってくださっていたことがあります。
M: Professor Elena Ivanova of the Gnessin Academy of Music has spoken with me for the last 12 years I've been studying.
それは「絶対に意味のない音を弾くんじゃない」ということです。必ず一音一音に意味を作りなさいと。フレーズに言葉をつけたりストーリーを考えたり。そのためにはこの本を読みなさい、この映画を見なさい、この絵を見なさいって。
[How can you embrace passion in music or pursue depth?]
"Never play sounds that are meaningless." Be sure to create meaning in every sound.
She told me to practice thinking of words or to create stories to the phrases. She’d tell me to read this book, watch this movie, look at this picture - stuff like that, in order to do so.
羽生:うーん。なるほど、勉強になります。
H: I see. Interesting. I've learned something.
松田:先生が教えてくださったのは、体の使い方もですね。私は普通のピアニストの方に比べて手が小さくて腕も細めなので、どうやって力を入れたらどんな音が出るかとか、どこで力を抜くかとか、そういうことを。
M: She also taught me how to use my body. I have smaller hands and thinner arms than most pianists, so how much power to put in, what kind of sound comes out when I do so, where to draw power from. She taught me such things.
羽生:僕らの競技も体の特徴がすごく影響します。
H: The characteristics of our bodies also have a great influence in figure skating.
スタイル、身長、手足の長さ。僕もロシアの先生に教わった時に「あなたはせっかく手足が長いんだから、もっと使いなさい」と、そういう具体的なことを教えてもらえたことをあらためて思い出しました。
Style, height, length of limbs. When I was taught by a Russian teacher, I was told, "Because you have long limbs, utilize them more." I’m once again reminded of that specific advice.
実は今シーズン、フリープログラムで『SEIMEI』（映画『陰陽師』サウンドトラックより）という曲を使用するんですけど、このプログラムでも一つひとつの振り、単純な基本動作にも意味をもたせなさいってすごく言われています。今日は松田さんとお話しして、共通する部分がたくさんあるなあって思いました。
And, actually, this season, I'm using a song Seimei (from the soundtrack of the movie "Onmyoji") in the free program, but even in this program, my choreographer told me that I need to make sure that every single movement , every simple action has meaning.
Today, I talked with you and realized that we have a lot in common.
新たなステージをめざす、それぞれの道
Aiming for a new stage, on each different path羽生:松田さんの今後の目標や予定を教えてください。
H: Could you tell me your goals and plans?
松田:2017年6月に2枚目のアルバム『ムソルグスキー:展覧会の絵』がリリースされました。秋からはそのアルバムのリサイタルがたくさんあるので、みなさまに喜んでいただける演奏ができるようがんばっていきたいと思います。
M: In June 2017, my second album, "Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition" was released. Since autumn, there have been a lot of recitals for that album. So, I'd like to do my best to play with pleasure for everyone.
このアルバムの8曲目に『マーキュシオ』（《ロメオとジュリエット》より10の小品 作品75:第8曲）という曲が収録されているのですが、この曲を羽生選手がスケートで滑ったらどんなふうになるんだろうなと、個人的にそんなことも想像しています。
The 8th song on the album is "Mercutio" (from "Romeo and Juliet"). Personally, I’m imagining and wonder how it’d be if you skated to that song.
羽生:聴きに行きたいですねー。シーズン中かなー（笑）。
H: I'd love to go to a recital to listen to that song. I wonder if it’ll be the middle of the skating season. [laughs]
松田:羽生選手は平昌オリンピックが控えていますが、意気込みを聞かせてください。
M: The Pyeongchang Olympics are coming. Please tell me about your enthusiasm.
羽生:オリンピックに向けて自分の体調管理とかをしっかりやりたいですね。あとはケガがつきもののスポーツなので、とにかくケガに気をつけて、毎日練習をがんばっていけたらいいなっていうのが今の気持ちです。
H: I want to properly manage my physical condition and such for the Olympics. Also, since injury is inherent in sports, I need to be careful of that hope that I can do my best every day. That’s my current feeling.
松田:がんばってください、応援しています。
M: Please do your best! I’m rooting for you!
In Peru, South America, there are young people who have the dream of participating in Olympic figure skating someday. The skating class started with five skaters and exceeded 150 in just five years.
They use rinks that are only half the size of international standards, but a bright and cheerful challenge proceeds under a leader who has the unique background of having competed in the roller skating world championship.
リマ市内の中心部にある遊戯施設内で、子どもたちの声が響き渡る。２０１１年に完成したという同国初の常設リンク「アイスランドパーク」だ。 Children’s voices echo in the play facilities in the center of Lima. It’s the first permanent rink in the country, Iceland Park, which was completed in 2011.
「日本から来たの？ ここでユヅル・ハニュー（羽生結弦）を知らない人はいないよ」。日本から見て地球の反対側にある国の子どもたちが口々に１４年ソチ五輪の男子金メダリストに親しみを込めていた。 “Did you come from Japan? There’s no one here who doesn’t know about Yuzuru Hanyu.” Children from countries on the other side of the globe from Japan are familiar with the 2014 Sochi Olympic men’s gold medalist.
Himena Olmaturia (17), who won the first competition, is very passionate about skating: “Peru is a nation known for being good at football or volleyball. I wanted to try a different sport. I feel like I am flying when I skate in the rink.”
However, it is difficult to say that the facility is suitable to prepare for the Olympics. It is 32 meters in length and 14 meters in width – about half of the international standard (60 meters by 30 meters), which is considered desirable for the Olympics and other competitions. Covered with a vinyl curtain, it is not a completely indoor facility. Water drips from the ceiling, hitting the ice.
Even though the government provides uniforms, it doesn’t allow the establishment of a federation because the facility is a private entity. For this reason, Peru is not a member of the International Skating Union (ISU).
Their technical skills are also similar to the level of beginners in Japan. Olmaturia, one of the top skaters, has learned to 4 single jumps out of the 6 types of jumps. More than half of the skaters have less than a year of competitive experience.
Still, they are full of passion. In the choreographic practice, while music flows, the atmosphere becomes lively like at a real competition and the skaters’ motivations rise up. An expensive apparatus for practicing jumps was handmade by a supporter.
Mr. Lois, who teaches the skaters, talked about his dream. “Practice environment, great talent, discipline – Japan has everything necessary for competition. Even if it takes 10 or 20 years, I would like my skaters to win the Olympics and world championships like Japanese skaters.”
This is Part 3 of 3 of an article from Wasedasports.com published on 24 December 2019 which is a collection of excerpts from different interviews that Yuzuru Hanyu gave after the Japanese Nationals. Part 3 is an excerpt from the press conference after announcing the Japanese representatives who will be participating in the Four Continents Championship and the World Championship. Read Part 1 and Part 2.
First of all, since I was chosen for the World Championship, it may take time to decide how much I can do from now on, and there are things that will take time and things that does not take much time , and I want to properly build on both of those and return to my strongest self for Worlds and fight.
It is rare for you to participate in the Four Continents Championships, why did you decide to do it? Also, there were many challenges this year, how will you face these two competitions coming up?
First of all , I applied to participate in the Four Continents because I want to tackle that competition with all my might. Of course I have a strong desire to get the title and am aiming for it, but somehow I feel that as a step, participating in Four Continents might help me grow, so I submitted the request. And it’s the same for this competition as well, I experience various things through the competitions and I think I can once again absorb many experiences and become stronger from them. Also I think it would be good if I could do simulations and other competitions, and truly think about and do various things, not only just Four Continents and the World Championships. Four Continents is one of my walls. I might compete with Nathan there, but for now, there is a wall called “Shoma”, whom I lost to, so I want to prepare myself and fight fully in my best condition.
As you will be participating in the Four Continents Championships, I wonder if you will spend less time practicing new jumps. What do you think about that?
By going to the Four Continents, I would like to make it a step towards learning it. Well I don’t have to say what “it” (4A) is, you understand. I really need an absolutely strong weapon now. Of course, there’s only about one point difference with the 4Lz, so is it worth it, or is it worth doing, or is it better to do the 4Lz twice? I’ve actually considered that. But this pertains to my personal pride, after all. It is a core (desire) which supports my skating now, so I definitely want to do it. With that in mind, I thought about my approach to the Four Continents, thinking of Four Continents as a place to see how much I have been able to progress, and submitted my request to participate this time.
――今大会で構成に入れなかったジャンプについて、今後世界と戦うにあたってどのように考えていますか
About the jumps that were not included in the layout in this competition, what are your thoughts about doing them in future competitions?
First of all, about the SP, the first half of the program is not set in stone, I’d like to think about how to adjust the music and how to jump in the best way to achieve the best rate of success and beauty and figure out how to jump so that it is blended in with the program. I don’t intend to do this layout for the FS at all, so I have to think about what I should prioritise from now on. If I prioritise jumping the 4Lz, I think it will certainly be more stable if I jump it as the first jump. So should I do that? Or if I really want to jump the 4A and get to the level that I can put that in the program, what should I do after the 4A? If I do the Lutz after the Axel, it would definitely be a big burden, so I have to think about those things one by one. However, I think the meaning of putting 4A in is to increase the types of quad jumps, so if I can’t make good use of it, I don’t think it’s worth doing it, and I also feel that I have to build a strong foundation in order to achieve that.
This is Part 2 of 3 of an article from Wasedasports.com published on 24 December 2019 which is a collection of excerpts from different interviews that Yuzuru Hanyu gave after the Japanese Nationals. Part 2 is an excerpt from the medalists interview. Read Part 1 here. Part 3 to come soon.
Thank you. Up to this point, there were moments when I could fight with all my might in the Japanese Nationals, and I was able to perform while becoming very passionate. Also throwing the gifts on the ice was banned at this competition. My fans have been throwing many Pooh-sans on the ice, but everyone was trying to follow the rules and even reminded the others that throwing gifts is prohibited. I think there are many things to take note of among fans. Everyone was really trying to follow every single one of them, and in this way, this competition became a wonderful one until the end and it makes me very happy. Thank you so much.
Both you and Shoma have experienced tough times and then came back to Japanese Nationals. The path that you’ve walked leading up to here (Japanese Nationals) and the results, what does it mean to you?
First of all, I wasn’t really watching by his side, but watching him on TV, I saw him not being able to participate with the physical condition which he wanted to be in, I myself also faced a situation with no coach at the GPF so I could really understand how difficult it is. For him [Shoma] to decide to part from his coach and aim to get a ticket to the Grand Prix Final in those circumstances, I think it was a very courageous thing to do. I am truly, honestly very happy that he found his way and is able to skate in his own way again. My path and his are over all…hmmm, it’s strange that I call him “He”, he calls me “Yuzu-kun” so I talk about him as “Shoma” (laughs) For Shoma, enjoying skating and of course, the time being away from it are both important. I think if I did the same thing, everything would probably come crumbling down. Because even when I am enjoying something else, I can’t help thinking that I should enjoy this moment now for the sake of skating later. But I really think it’s great that Shoma came back as who he is, I am really thinking that that’s why he could become a silver Olympic medalist. Shoma said earlier that he worked hard and got a result that was better than he expected but Shoma is stronger than he thinks. Maybe he has weaknesses as well but that’s a part of Shoma too and I think that is Shoma’s strength. I have a lot to learn from him, also I have some difficult things I’m facing myself right now, but I’d say this is not my limit, and push myself.
There is nothing good. I just tried my best. Nothing more. I used my brain too. I was thinking about what I could do to add more triples after the popped Lutz, and where I could get a higher score, but there was only so much I could do. But I still hung on and tried everything that I could. But only trying and not being able to make it happen is after all a negative thing.There were only bad things in that performance. (laughs) What can I say, should I list all of the bad points? (laughs) I’ll probably speak for 30 minutes about it. Well, what was bad was.. Well, I think I couldn’t control my mind and body at the same time. That was the most difficult thing this time. I might have been overwhelmed, but it’s still something to reflect upon. And about the result, I ended up in 2nd and the score was really bad, and I knew from the beginning that it couldn’t be helped. The moment I finished my performance, since I knew Shoma’s score already, I felt, “Ahh, finally it’s over.” But I really want to say this here, even though this doesn’t respond to the question about my performance, I think Shoma can finally call himself the “Japanese National Champion” from the bottom of his heart. I’ve not been there for a long time due to my injury. If I were to compete with him before this, I might have lost to him even earlier, but really, finally it was the first time that I lost to Shoma in (the combined scores) in the SP and FS like this* so…I want him to be proud of himself and keep going from now on. It is a hard thing being a Japanese National champion. (laughs) But from now on, I want him to have confidence, and including myself, well, I still intend to keep working hard too and if we can lead together again…It’s not just putting (the pressure) on Shoma only, but I feel that it’ll be good if I can shoulder (the pressure) too and work hard together. (Towards Shoma) Let’s work hard together. Congratulations!
*T/N: This is purely our interpretation because he doesn’t elaborate, but we think he’s referring to World Team Trophy 2017 where Shoma beat him in the SP and the overall score but it was not counted because the two segments were calculated separately, the total score was not added up and they were on the same team.
There’s Yuma Kagiyama (Kanagawa Seisa International High School Yokohama) right next to you, and there’s another junior, Shun Sato (Sakae Saitama), who can do quads. Please tell us your candid feelings about the strong skaters catching up to you.
Not just the men, but including the ladies, it has come to a stage where they’re jumping quads one after another like this. We, like Shoma talked about earlier, are in the position of being chased but if we look at the jumps individually, actually we are in the position of catching up to the younger skaters. In my case, the 4Lz still has a low rate of success.Of course, there are fewer skaters who use 4Lo in competition, and just from that maybe everyone knows how difficult it is, but if you think about individual jumps, I am in the position where I am catching up, and my desire is to learn and embody it. Shun, this time, did not successfully land his 4Lz, but I saw him doing it beautifully at the official practice and it made me think that I want to be able to jump like that myself as well. Yuma’s accuracy and the height and the strength of the axis of 4T are some of the things that we can learn from. Since there are different types of skaters, I think it’s a great thing that there are many things we can watch again and learn by observation and get better at.
This is Part 1 of 3 of an article from Wasedasports.com published on 24 December 2019 which is a collection of excerpts from different interviews that Yuzuru Hanyu gave after the Japanese Nationals. Part 1 is an excerpt from a group interview. Parts 2 and 3 to come.
So many people were cheering me on and giving me power until the end despite my poor performance. I fell on the very last jump, but I think I gritted my teeth and did it. I can only say that I appreciate that they watched my performance until the end.
It is…I’m not sure which competition I am going to participate in yet, but I am really weak now. There is no way that I can compete well without landing the quad loop and the toe loop, and also the triple axel, there’s truly no way. I am very unsatisfied with my current self. I’m kuyashii. If there is another chance, I will work hard for the next competition.
I don’t know. I think I was doing the best I could do, I felt good until the 6 min warm up, and the feeling was not that bad. It was like I could feel the dissonance between my mental and physical condition
I made the mistake of popping the opening Lutz and then I thought of many possibilities. About where I could make my recovery jump. But I don’t think I had the physical strength to make such a recovery. Really, I was thinking it’s meaningless even if I made that kind of recovery. So I’m not sure. I can’t sort out my thinking. But now Shoma is finally back on track and to be honest, I am happy about it. This is the first time that I lost to him properly. I’m very happy about it. It’s difficult to describe what kind of happiness that is. But somehow, I feel relieved.
――ルッツの失敗は疲労が足にきていたことが原因でしょうか
Is the exhaustion in your feet the reason for your mistake on the Lutz ?
Well…how can I say…what I thought about the image and..Hmm, whatever I say will sound like I’m making excuses for that mistake so I truly hate that. My honest feeling is that I don’t want to say anything.
It was okay, and I think it was a difficult situation until the end for me but the ice was in good condition, so I want to thank the people who maintain that ice rink.
It is quite shocking for us to hear Hanyu, who has lost, say, “I am relieved.” It’s been a while since you’ve lost to a Japanese skater, how do you feel about it?
I’ve been seeing Shoma struggling for a long time, but to see that he has finally settled down and can focus on skating makes me happy. I’d like him to keep working hard in his own way, as my junior. I want to cheer him on from the bottom of my heart.
――グランプリファイナル、そして全日本で敗北を味わい、重圧が減ったということはありますか
You lost at the GPF and the Japanese Nationals, does that experience reduce the pressure on you?
It doesn’t matter that I lost to the Japanese skater or whom I lost to, I always think that I want to win no matter what. Of course I couldn’t do my best here, but I tried with all my might. So it’s not something like I was released from the pressure. I have a firm conviction in myself or something like pride in myself. I think Shoma can say that he is the “Japanese National Champion” proudly from now on. Because this year, I competed as well. So I think maybe I will chase him and threaten him a little from behind.
――ＦＳの前、うまくいかない予兆のようなものはありましたか
Were there any signs that things might not go well before FS?
The adjustment didn’t go well throughout. I felt like my body was getting worse day by day. I noticed something was strange even before the SP. But even so, I am privileged to receive support from many people and I adjusted my body condition to the best that it could be at that point, then it turned out like that. So to be honest, I think my skill and ability was not enough. But I think I gave it everything I had
――ミスが出たあと集中が切れたようにも感じられましたが、どのような状態でしたか
――It seemed that you lost your concentration after you made a mistake, but what was the situation?
I was surprised, in my mind. Like “What’s going on?”. It was really different from what I was feeling. And it still is now. I can’t tell at all what is happening to my behavior to be honest. There are many areas where my feelings and what I am talking about feel like they’ve become separate things. But still, what I had envisioned and the sharpness of my body’s reaction is different. Maybe it was manageable when I was doing the SP and had physical strength left, but there’s nothing I can do about it and it was all shown in my performance (in FS). But if I’ll be honest, for example, swimmers do many races. Though the circumstances might be different. If I compare with those swimmers, I only participated in 3 competitions within 5 weeks. Then I only have this much physical power left. So now I’ve begun to think that I really use so much power to do my jumps and I have to be able to do a good jump in my own style while saving more energy. I didn’t give up. I really fought till the end with everything I had left. If I hadn’t, I would not have done the 3F (4T-1Eu-3F instead of 3S) at that point.
Okay, so I just watched like 20 clips you linked above but who tf is Yuzuru Hanyu??
Factual info you could probably Wikipedia but are too lazy to do so: Yuzuru Hanyu is a Japanese figure skater from Sendai, born 7 December 1994 who competes in the men’s singles discipline. He is the two time Olympic champion, holds 19 world records (and counting) and is the only male figure skater to achieve the Super Slamor Career Super Grand Slam, meaning he’s won both major junior-level international competitions (World Junior Championships, Junior Grand Prix Final) and all four major senior-level international competitions at any point during the course of a career. Among many other firsts, he is credited with being the first skater to land a quadruple loop in competition and the first to break the 100 (SP), 200 (FS) and 300 (total score) points barriers in the +/-3GOE and +/-5GOE scoring system. He was also the first Japanese person to win two consecutive winter Olympic singles championships and the first male figure skater in 66 years in the entire world to win two consecutive Olympic men’s singles championships in the designated games.
He is also the youngest recipient of Japan’s People’s Honor Award, which is one of the most prestigious civilian honours in Japan. The People’s Honor Award established in 1977 has been given to 25 individuals and one group for their achievements in sports, entertainment and culture, whose distinguished achievements have brought the light of hope to society. And he did so wearing a beautiful montsuki haori hakama (Interview after his award here)
As of 2020, he graduated from studying Human Informatics and Cognitive Sciences at Waseda University, which is one of the most prestigious universities in Japan (which also basically makes him a massivemaths nerd). His graduation thesis was about Motion Capture Technology Applied to Figure Skating and Its Prospects on Scoring, in which he used himself as a test subject because…well, duh, he’s the best in the field (see here for some more details on his graduation and here for translations for the currently published parts of his thesis). This is incidentally where the inside joke: Yuzuru Hanyu for Yuzuru Hanyu by Yuzuru Hanyu in collaboration with Yuzuru Hanyu came from (are we wrong?!)
Incidentally, he did his entrance exam while competing at the Grand Prix Final 2012 and documentaries reported that he was always top 5 in his class at academics during high school as well — in his own words: ‘first is first’ and his parents always stressed that he has to have more than just skating (this kid was away the day God handed out laziness and procrastination I s2g)
He was interviewed in Ice Rink Sendai with Japan’s other figure skating gold medallist Shizuka Arakawa. to quote, when asked “Can you become a gold medallist too?”, he said “Probably”. and then he went and did exactly that.
He would get into fights with his rinkmates, used to ball up skate rink magazine flyers to hit like a baseball and basically had a 5min attention span after which he would get bored
Yuzuru held 2 victory parades after his two Olympic gold medals in which he stood on a bus and waved at a crowd of 80k in 2014 and 100k people in 2018. Honestly it was the most amazing thing, and then also the streets were CLEAN AS HELL after, we stan respectful fans!
The post-Pyeongchang parade and the scramble to get a photo of Yuzu on a bus amidst 100k people sparked a viral hashtag: #羽生結弦の写真撮るの下手くそ選手権 (aka. ‘the shittily taken photos of Hanyu-kun competition), which is genuinely one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen because fanyu meme legends. Here’s a thread of some top selections
He saw it lol. And brought it up on his own. He sees all
The 2018 parade generated $1.86 BILLION YEN economic impact or $16M USD (!!!) and he donated the $22M yen profit to support the local skating federation
There is an unspoken rule when he goes home to Sendai that people will treat him like an ordinary person and not a celebrity and though paparazzi etc. still happens, it is mostly respected and we should 10000% keep it that way.
He has no known social media channels and is proficient at disappearing completely like a ninja and subjecting his fans to radio silence for months on end (often because he’s injured but…more on that later). The ongoing joke is that you will usually only know Yuzuru is alive (and exists) through analysing blurs that look like him in the background of social media posts from skaters he trains with or photos with small children at places he trains with (only with small children though). However, many of us believe he lurks at least on Japanese twitter since he’s given hints before that he’s aware of some of the bigger conversation topics in Japanese figure skating spaces (he’s watching)
‘Pooh rain’ is the cutest damn thing you’ll ever see
You’ve probably seen this exhaustively covered in the media, especially Western media during the Olympics because that’s all they ever seem curious about, which is partly why I wrote this intro post because there is so much more to yuzuru
However, the ‘Pooh rain’ is really amazing to witness live, an experience like no other
Why Pooh? This is because he’s had a pooh tissue box cover since he was young, given by his parents and he calls Pooh-san his friend and coach and comforting to him because his expression is always calm and never changes. You will see Pooh-san on the boards at every competition, loyally watching over Yuzu
Why do people throw Pooh bears at him? there’s a tradition to throw flowers and toys as a gesture of appreciation after a skater’s performance in figure skating and…well, lots of people appreciate yuzuru ; )
(But also consider throwing things like pokeballs, tokyo ghoul plushies, GOAT plushies and earphone plushies at him people, let’s get some creativity in this house!)
Here’s an account from a doctor who witnessed the donations coming in!
little flower collections smiling at all the Poohs is one of my favourite things
You thought your favourite TV show was dramatic? Welcome to Yuzuru Hanyu’s entire life
Yuzuru was a victim of the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami and lived in an emergency shelter with his family for about four days after. he spent the summer afterwards skating 60 different ice shows to raise money for the victims. he lost his home rink because of the earthquake and so would go to the show rinks early to use the ice to practice as much as he could ):
It’s heartbreaking that he’s still very affected by the memories. he’s said he doesn’t take anything for granted and is always grateful to have a rink to skate on, and the impact he had on the survivors had a profound effect on his skating
Consider Yuzuru being a 16yr old teenager suddenly thrust into the position of being this symbol of hope for the entire disaster and feeling the weight to carry that on his shoulders – it was not an easy journey, let alone for someone so young but he handled it with so much grace
The only regular TV appearance he does every year is 24hr TV which is a charity marathon to raise money for various causes, especially for areas in Japan affected by natural disasters
This was one of the reasons he went for a second Olympic gold. Cry with us
It is REALLY IMPORTANT to know that the main reason for fan heart attacks and most of the non-3/11 skating-related drama in Yuzuru’s life is because he’s dealt with a distressing number of injuries, illnesses and misfortunes in his skating life but has somehow managed to come back and succeed in spite of them. In his own words, his skating life is “like a roller coaster” and… yeah, your shounen manga has nothing on him. I’m serious.
His home rink in Sendai (Ice Rink Sendai) actually shut twice, first during primary school because of financial difficulties – he commuted several hours to Wakayama every week to continue skating – and then, only a few years after the home rink reopened, 3/11 struck and closed the rink again due to repairs. It’s because of this that Yuzuru never takes for granted the fact he has a rink to skate in and always touches the ice when entering and exiting the rink partly to thank it.
After the 3/11 disaster, he relocated with his mother to Toronto to start training at the Toronto Cricket and Curling Club with new coaches, thereby being separated from his hometown and family long term. He suffered several untimely injuries in his junior days and also for example right before the 2013 World Championships, meaning he skated with a sprained ankle because he felt responsibility as the newly crowned Japanese National Champion to help Japan qualify for 3 spots at the Sochi Olympics. He did end up preserving 3 spots with Japan’s other representatives.
Right after his golden slam year of winning the Olympic Gold, World Championships and Grand Prix Final in 2013-14, in his first competition and season as the newly minted Olympic champion, a really scary accident happened at Cup of China in 2014 where Yuzuru collided with fellow competitor Han Yan in the 6min warmup before his Free Skate. He decided to skate anyway because he wanted to qualify for the Grand Prix Final and felt responsibility to do so as the Olympic champion. The debate rages on even now about whether he should have done so, that it was unacceptable that the ISU didn’t have any protocol in place about qualifying for GPF in the event of accidents (which is a figure skating-wide problem as many skaters have been pushed or elected to continue to skate after horrible accidents). But Yuzuru did indeed go out and do that, falling on almost all of his jumps but showing the sort of fighting spirit you will see in Yuzuru again and again.
Many Yuzuru fans consider the accident and his subsequent free skate a legitimately traumatic incident, especially those who witnessed it live, so we really don’t encourage footage of the Cup of China to be shared, at least without a warning or glorifying it as ‘something out of an anime’. Just please be sensitive ;;
He then came back a month later to win the Grand Prix Final 2014 for the 2nd year in a row, in a true feat of triumph and grit
It was annus horribilis for Yuzu that year because he then had abdominal pain and surgery right after winning Japanese Nationals in 2014 – he was literally rushed to hospital right after the Free Skate and didn’t even get to attend the ceremony where the Worlds representatives were announced
And after spending a month recuperating, he still managed to win a silver medal at Worlds 2014
This is why we don’t talk about Boston Worlds 2016. Yuzuru skated the World Championships while hiding a lisfranc injury that he thought – at the time – could end his career. That entire summer afterwards, no one knew whether he would ever return to competition…but he did. Debuting a new quad.
The chapter from his autobiography Aoi Honoo II talks about that experience. Uhh…yeah sorry about your heart clenching, you’ll get used to that
It’s important to note he skated his iconic Chopin/Seimei 2015 Grand Prix Final programs WITH THAT INJURY (more on those programs later)
He came back at the start of the 2016-2017 season after almost an entire summer of complete radio silence and became the first in the world to land the quadruple loop in his first competition back. He went on to win his 4th Grand Prix Final title in a row and the World Championships in Helsinki in 2017 after being 5th after a mistake in the Short Program (an unthinkable result), skating a perfect program with four quads and breaking the Free Skate world record along the way. It was sublime. Yeah. being his fan is always a roller coaster
At the start of the 2017-18 Olympic season, Yuzuru returned to debut the quadruple lutz at his first Grand Prix competition and then missed almost the entire 2017-2018 Olympic season after he severely injured his ankle while practising the 4Lz in practice at the NHK Trophy, while running a fever.
He then proceeded to disappear completely and utterly from the public eye for almost three months to recover from the injury, with the clock ticking down to the Pyeongchang Olympics in February 2018. He skipped the team Olympic event and made his COMEBACK SKATE FROM INJURY after 3 months of no competitions, 1 month of prep and while on legal painkillers at the individual mens event of the Pyeongchang Olympics…. AND FRIKKIN WON HIS SECOND OLYMPIC GOLD(more down the page)
His fans made him a banner after his Olympic season injury during those 3mths and delivered it to TCC. It’s a beautiful thing ;; _ ;;
He then…injured himself again for the 2018-19 season in the second Grand Prix of the season, made the conscious decision to go out and skate anyway, won the event and showed up to the victory ceremony on crutches. He made a comeback at the World Championships 2019 on painkillers yet again and still managed to get a silver medal, after months off the ice.
Just as he had a rare injury-free season for 2019-20 (though he also competed in a gruelling 3 competitions in 3 continents in 5 weeks and by the end wasn’t even sure what timezone he was in and also his coach had his passport stolen on his way through Germany for GPF so he was unexpectedly alone for the SP) and secured his Super Grand Slam, COVID-19 struck which meant the World Championships 2020 in Montreal and subsequent summer of ice shows was cancelled. Yuzuru withdrew from the Grand Prix series citing health risks and concern for the safety of his team and his fans and emphasised the need to do his role to reduce the risk of spreading the infection. 10 months later in December 2020, having trained in Japan alone without his coaches who were still in Canada, he made a comeback to secure his 5th National title and break all domestic records with two new programs.
He has a particular knack for remembering many people he’s met over his life and thanking them for their support or referencing stuff they’ve done; several JP TV hosts and media personalities have been visibly surprised (and delighted) by how much he knows about them. There was one time he randomly congratulated a reporter on her engagement or thanked journalists for writing articles about him completely unprompted. He sees all.
*elbows everyone out of the way* SPEAKING OF JAPANESE MEDIA WHO LOVE HIM, please see below on Nobunari Oda and Matsuoka Shuzo
My favourite in-depth and extended interviews with Yuzu are his press conferences with the foreign correspondents club in japan after his Olympic victories, he really lets his intelligence and thoughtfulness shine here in particular. They talk about a LOT of topics but it’s worth the full watch:
Yuzuru is known for a seemingly endless appetite for improvement, evolution and continually challenging himself
His favourite word: kuyashii (ie. frustrated). To the point where – when he said he was not feeling kuyashii at all after his Olympic victory and wants to just skate for his own pleasure, everyone was like did he get replaced by an imposter (one somewhat struggle-street Autumn Classic International competition later…he was like ‘there’s no point if I don’t win’ LOL)
One of my favourite interviews of him everwas right after his broke all 3 world records and went over 200 and 300 for the FS and total competition score for the first time at NHK 2015.
“[On losing to Patrick Chan at Skate Canada & the fact he was practising during gala rehearsal where everyone else was chilling] I thought I want to improve, even here right now. Patrick was nearby and it was a really good motivation. It’s like, ‘Watch me.’ I will definitely practise all kinds of jumps and I will grow for sure. I will win the next time for sure, I have been practising with that in mind.”
Then 3 weeks later, at NHK Trophy, he had a different layout.
Yuzu: This is not related to Patrick anymore. I was really fired up this time. Boyang Jin got 95 points in SP, right? When I saw that score, I thought, wow NO MISTAKES!! He gave the best of his abilities! OH YES!!!!
Shuzo: You didn’t think OH NO!!! You thought OH YES????
Yuzu: I thought “It’s here!!!“ Since I was a child, I have never liked winning a competition when others made mistakes. Everyone skates to their best, but I still come first, above all. That is what I like. I like pushing myself to the edge—.”
There’s a chance some of these are inspired by anime protagonists. This season he’s been talking about overcoming a ‘tall wall’ and there being ‘walls and doors’. ((Yuzuru, do you watch Haikyuu?!))
Nobu and ex-tennis player turned media figure Matsuoka Shuzo have been his most zealous and purest hype men since he was sixteen, it’s the cutest thing in the world, they’re regularly worried about him, stunned by him and moved to tears by his performances
Just before the Olympic medal ceremony, yuzuru cried after javi told him this would be his last olympics and saying ‘no I can’t do it without you’ wow I didn’t need my heart or anything today
Do you want to aww? Here’s a short compilationof other figure skaters and sportspeople his programs alone have inspired. Not to mention people like Kohei Uchimura and legendary shogi player Yoshiharu Habu have commented favourably on him and baseballer Ohtani Shohei called the 1994 line of prominent Japanese athletes the ‘Hanyu generation’.
Did I mention he happens to be pretty good at figure skating?
He’s the first man in 66yrs since Dick Buttonto win back-to-back Olympic gold medals in mens figure skating (Sochi 2014 and Pyeongchang 2018)
Completed his Super Slam in February 2020. Hilariously, while most skaters complete their slam with an Olympic gold medal, he already had TWO before he won Four Continents, which was the competition missing from the Slam list (he missed out on several due to injury and had silvers for the other two). Just Yuzu things.
Holds all 3 historical figure skating world records for Short Program, Free Program and Total Score under the +/-3GOE system (the rule system was changed in 2018 and records reset). He was the first to break 100, 200, 300 points barrier in the new +/-5GOE system as well
Remained at number one in the world standings for the entire Olympic cycle since 2013 despite aforementioned heart-attack-inducing injuries and illnesses
I cannot emphasise HOW FRIKKIN #YOLO HIS 2018 OLYMPIC SEASON WAS. LIKE STOP. WALK WITH ME HERE.
So Yuzuru has been wanting this medal literally for ENTIRE LIFE, which he has planned since he was a novice skater and had seriously begun planning since right after he won the gold in Sochi. this plan had to be adjusted along the way due to the truly distressing number of injuries, illnesses and misfortunes he sustained during the last quad from 2014 – 2017 (his Olympic athlete profile has PARAGRAPHS dedicated to all his injuries – and note these are only the post-2014 ones).
But Yuzuru started the 2017-18 Olympic season with a plan to basically break all 3 of his WRs at the Olympics by recycling his iconic Chopin and Seimei programs but upgrading the layout and introducing a new quad – the 4Lz – which he had been preparing for years. he trained so hard during summer that his coach Brian Orser remarked he would have been ready to go to the Olympics right then and there. he landed his 4Lz for the first time in competition at Rostelecom Cup and seemed poised to fight for momentum during the 2017-18 Grand Prix season.
And then this plan was, once again, thrown out the window when he sustained an ankle injury in practice right before the NHK Trophy in early November, which was much more severe than he first thought. he sat out of competition for 3mths, literally disappearing from all news and the public eye, despite hoping to return first at Japanese Nationals and then to the Pyeongchang team event, but pulled out of both as well. (honestly, Olympic season was a Pretty Big Disaster For So Many Bizarre Reasons…)
Yuzuru made his comeback from injury debut at the individual men’s event, aka. the BIG DEAL, after marching into the airport like a BOSS. we were told he had only recovered his triple axel 3 weeks ago and his quads 2 weeks ago, but post-Olympics, he slowly revealed that it was even more dire than that. he skated the entire Olympics on painkillers that were not working 100% which meant every jump landing hurt, accepting the risk he may permanently damage his ankle or worsen his injury because they didn’t actually know the extent of his injury at that point.
(It was also the 1000th medal in Winter Olympics history because destiny rewards those who are Most Extra)
But WAIT, you say, what is it about his skating that you love so much?
Some of his iconic moves ; _ ; His flexibility has been a key asset since he was young as very few male figure skaters could do the biellmann position in spins and a one handed hydroblade. He said I respect the no core strength community but that’s not me
He has the ability to engage in multidirectional and varied skating with huge amounts of speed, his Step Sequences are monsters, as are his choreo sequences and his transitions going in and out of jumps are the most complex in the field – eg. doing a triple axel in and out of twizzles or from a back counter entry
His spins are also amazing. He’s the full package. You wanna watch my personal favourite example of his completely ridiculous skating skills, speed and performance ability? I gotchu
Iconic program alert: romeo and juliet 1.0 at worlds, less than 1yr after the tsunami disaster, after he spent all summer training sporadically at ice shows. after flying under the radar for his senior debut, this really launched him onto the international stage
Iconic program alert: Sochi olympic short program (the thing that won him the gold lbr)
VERY iconic program alert: Chopin and Seimei at Grand Prix Finals 2015/16
His skates for the two programs at NHK Trophy only a fortnight prior smashed the World Record.
Under enormous pressure and expectation going into the Grand Prix Final, he skated last, skated perfectly and achieved the WR for highest short program and total program score, beating the silver medallist Javier Fernandez by almost 40 points
he’s brought them both back and try to surpass them for the Olympic season because he wasn’t already under enough pressure
More iconic program alert: hope and legacy FS at Worlds 2016/17 where he came back from 5th place in the Short Program to win the free and break his own world record yet again (annotated version so you can appreciate just how difficult and insane the layout was)
Hilariously, his coach brian orser was – uncharacteristically – warning everyone that his first skates of the season are like ‘first pancakes’ and to not expect too much from him before the SP
He did go ahead and die in the free skate the following day though, and finished with his obligatory Canadian silver
Jumped and landed his first 4Lz in competition at the Rostelecom Cup 2017 (watch it clean – it’s a THING OF BEAUTY) and now has landed 4 types of quads in competition (4T, 4S, 4Lo and 4Lz). Has now said that being the first person ever to land the 4A – his childhood dream – is one of his key motivations.
Note from 2019: he uh….tried it. on the last day of being 24 (please remember MOST SKATERS HIS AGE HAVE RETIRED BY NOWAND THE QUAD AXEL HAS NEVER EVEN BEEN ATTEMPTED COMPETITIVELYEVER)
Oh you wanna know more, huh? I GOT U BB, WE’VE ALL BEEN THERE
He may be a god? idk? He has multiple shrines in Japan that his fans make pilgrimmages to, because of their unintentional connections with him. Some include yuzuruha shrine in kobe because it shares 2 characters with his name (almost 3), the seimei jinja in kyoto, and abe no seimei shrine in osaka.
Oda visited one and basically all the ema wishes were for him (Yuzuru himself also visited the shrine to pray as well)
Has the Midas touch or #hanyuconomy as I am determined to coin in the English-speaking fandom. Everything he wears, endorses, mentions, appears in, or even things broadly related to him etc., tends to get a financial boost from his fans flocking to it out of interest
Music he skates to tends to shoot up on the charts, even music he was caught lip-syncing before competitions
Yuzuru-themed photobooks tend to sell out within seconds on pre-orders
He had a brief stint as the Kose beauty blogger for sponsorship reasons and admitted he…doesn’t use skincare? but everything sold out anyway??? #hanyuconomy
Other than this, he keeps his private life pretty damn private (hence: cryptid), we have not seen his father or sister make any official appearances in media and his mother never speaks to the media but accompanies him to all his competitions. They’re very low key and like to keep out of the spotlight so let’s respect that!
His personal fan forum Planet Hanyu has a comprehensive archive of videos
Here’s a feature article on his skating journey called ‘Spin the Dream‘ translated (ad hoc, sorry) by me
The new york times did a long feature on him and it’s a pretty comprehensive article if you want an overview and intro to Yuzuru, but English/American media as a whole don’t tend to cover him in depth or tend to do it poorly, or are straight up offensive about it (if I hear one more poorly researched journalist question making it all about his Winnie the Poohs, I will scream), so I recommend Japanese interviews where you can really get a feel for his way of thinking
Axel with Wings 
